Victorian Bridge Association Bulletin September 2012 Editor: Bill Jacobs
COUNCIL NEWS Teams are up to 6 players, and this most distinguished State Teams event of the year
serves as an avenue to qualify for the IT improvements at the VBA Victorian Open Team at the ANC in Adelaide
2013. This year's Open Teams will also offer Thanks to the extensive efforts by our Gold Points to players. councillor Rob Stewart we now have new TV monitors installed at the club to provide Master Teams will commence on Monday 24 display of results, time remaining in the September for 3 consecutive weeks. This is a session and other useful information during graded red point event. sessions. This will enhance the experience of players contesting state and club events. The Enter online at the VBA website VBA council wishes to express its gratitude to www.vba.asn.au. the Bridge Foundation’s Trustees Ian
McCance and Diana Jacobs for approving the September Congresses funding for this project.
September brings us football finals and three Additionally, the council has agreed to great congress events. Why not "spring into establish and trial a video link via Skype for action in Spring" and give one of these council meetings to facilitate participation by popular congresses a go. Places fill up quickly our regional representatives on the council. so enter early to be sure you don't miss out! Echuca - September 8 & 9 Website Data Improvements Ballarat - September 15 & 16 Macedon Ranges - September 30 Rob Stewart has been working hard with Entry to most congresses can be made online Laurie Kelso, Cathie Lachman and the other at www.bridgeunlimited.com. Visit the VBA directors to get our new scoring system up website for more details on these events and running. The system utilising under "Affiliated Home". Compuscore is not only designed to provide better data for players, but thanks to the wonderful efforts of Blaine Howe it has Attention Bridge Directors allowed us to make many changes to our website to improve the information provided The VBA, in conjunction with the Australian to club members, as well as improved Bridge Directors Association, will be hosting a information for players contesting state weekend of Seminar & Workshops at its events. Now there is extensive information Poath Road premises on October 13 and 14. available to players on how they went in each session. We are in the final stages of Featuring Sean Mullamphy, Arie Guersen, implementing this change and we trust you Matthew McManus and Laurie Kelso, the will let us know how you like it. program will comprise a mix of formal presentations and workshop discussions. Upcoming State Events at the VBA At $55 including lunch for the two days ($30 The following events at the VBA are open to for one day only), this event is a great way to all Victorian Bridge players: improve your knowledge on the Laws of Bridge and their application. Open Teams Pennant will commence on Wednesday September 19th for 7 weeks (19 More details regarding the event are Sept, 3, 10, 17, 31 October and 7, 14 available on both the ABF and the VBA November). This culminates in the Semi- websites. Finals and Final on November 24 and 25. Page 2 VBA Bulletin September 2012
FOR STARTERS have strength up to about 21 points, and Bill Jacobs with your minimum 6 points, that would be sufficient for game. Reverse bids are forcing.
Playing in a team event, everyone is With 9 or more points, your side should have vulnerable and you hold: sufficient strength for at least a game
contract. Your options for responding to a KQ10984 A5 642 . 74 reverse bid with 9+ points are:
Partner is the dealer and opens 1., you - jump rebid your suit with 6+ cards, or respond 1, and your partner bids 2: - jump to 3NT with a stopper in the LHO Partner RHO You fourth suit and no good fit for either or 1. Pass 1 partner’s suits, or Pass 2 Pass ? - jump in one of partner’s suits with a good fit there, or What is partner showing you? And what should you bid now? - bid the fourth suit (“fourth-suit forcing”) to indicate that you have enough strength for game, but don’t yet know which denomination to select Partner’s 2 is known as a reverse bid. A reverse bid is a bid in a new suit that forces With your current hand: the partnership to a high level. Specifically, if a return to opener’s first suit takes you to KQ10984 A5 642 . 74 the 3-level, then opener has reversed, and is showing extra values over and above after partner has opened 1. and reversed minimum opening bid values: approximately with 2 over your 1 response, you have 16 or more points. just enough strength to commit to the game level. And your spade suit is a good one, so It is called a reverse because, in the most you should jump to 3 over partner’s 2 bid. typical reverse auction, 1X-1Y-2Z, “Z” is a higher suit than “X” and therefore the suits Partner raises this to 4, so the auction has are being bid in an unnatural, or reverse, been: order. LHO Partner RHO You Responder’s reaction to a reverse will depend 1. Pass 1 on his high-card strength. With about 6 to 8 Pass 2 Pass 3 points, it is not yet certain that the Pass 4 All Pass partnership belongs in game, and a bid at the minimum level is in order: The K is led, and you see:
- repeat your suit with a 6-card or decent J3 5-card suit of your own, or K1082 AJ - bid 2NT with a stopper in the fourth . AQJ83 suit, and no good fit for either or N partner’s suits, or
- make a minimum bid in one of partner’s S suits KQ10984 A5 All these bids can be passed by partner if he 642 is in the minimum range for his reverse: . 74 about 16-17 points. Plan the play in 4 One thing you are not allowed to do is to pass partner’s reverse bid. Partner could VBA Bulletin September 2012 Page 3
Start by counting your losers. Looking at Opener Responder your hand, you have a loser in spades, two in 1 1NT diamonds and one in clubs, should the club 2 king be offside. Opener Responder The second diamond loser can be avoided by 1 2 trumping the third round of diamonds, but 3. perhaps the opponents can prevent that ruff by playing two rounds of trumps. For Opener Responder example, if you win A and return a 1. (1) Pass (Pass) diamond, the opponents can play A and 2 another spade. Then if the club finesse loses, they will have a good diamond to cash. In each case, returning to opener’s first suit involves bidding it at the 3-level. Is there a way to avoid that scenario? Because the auction is forced relatively high, opener is required to have extra strength.
Yes there is. Let them win K at trick 1. After a one-over-one response, and a Then if the defence plays two rounds of reverse bid from opener, responder must trumps, you can draw trumps and take the not pass. With 6-8 points, make a simple club finesse, with A standing sentinel to minimum bid in one of the three suits guard the suit. shown (or bids 2NT). With 9 or more points, make a jump bid, or bid the fourth If instead the opponents play a second suit: these rebids force the partnership to diamond, you can come to A and ruff the game. third round of diamonds, avoiding your second diamond loser that way. Holdup plays in suit contracts are not as common as in notrumps. But they can The full deal: occur. This suit is a typical example:
J3 xxx K1082 AJ Axx . AQJ83 A62 N 75 When this suit is led, it is often a good J764 Q93 idea to not take your ace until the second W E KQ103 9875 round. Then if the suit divides 5-2, and . 95 S . K1062 the player with the doubleton KQ10984 subsequently gets on lead, he won’t be A5 able to cash a trick in this suit. 642 . 74 RECENT RESULTS If you take A at trick 1, you will have no way to make, if the defenders play well. Rothfield Teams
1 W. Jacobs, B. Thompson, L. Gold, S. Hinge,
P. Hollands, M. Henbest 2 G. Kilvington, I. McCance, F. Beale, R. van Riel Points to remember: 3 H. Snashall, J. Magee, T. Strong, C. Haugh
Be on the lookout for reverse auctions: auctions where partner bids two suits, and Ros Blutstein Swiss Pairs your return to his first suit would take you 1 S. Sharp – D. Sharp to the 3-level. Here are some examples 2 J. Fleiszig – G. Fleiszig of reverse bids: 3 E. Linton – E. Matheson
Page 4 VBA Bulletin September 2012
SETTING TRICK - PROBLEMS must hope declarer's shape is 5422 and play for 2 club tricks, one heart and one from...
Where? What is your strategy? Problem 1:
Dlr: South A Solutions on page 7. Vul: E/W 10965 J9876 THE TWELFTH TRICK . Q103 N KQ62 Two for the price of one, this month. AQ3 W E 10 West North East South S . K8653 1 Pass 1 Pass 2NT West North East South Pass 6NT All Pass 1NT* Pass 2. Pass 2 Problem 1: Pass 2NT Pass 3NT Pass Pass Pass Dealer: S KQ105 Vul: All J102 * 15-17 HCP QJ7 . AQ4 Partner starts J and thanks to "Stayman-as- N a-raise-of-notrump" the hand is an open book. Partner has 5+ spades, and, clearly, S has precious little else. It is likely that those AJ9 diamonds will run, but you will have no AQ4 trouble with discards, since you need to hold K6432 only one (low) spade, A and guard clubs as . KJ best you can. If declarer's clubs are as good as AJx he can make 9 tricks without hearts, . Problem 2: so partner must hold on to clubs if he has .J.
Dealer: S KJ105 So what will your strategy be? Now, and Vul: All Q2 when the diamonds are run? QJ7
. AQ43 Problem 2: N Dlr: East AK6 Vul: All Q76 S QJ2 AQ9 . J974 A64 N 9842 K6432 A543 . KJ W E 9 S . AKQ6 In both problems, .10 is led to 6NT.
West North East South Solutions on page 8. 1. 1 3* D’ble Pass 3 . Pass 4 All Pass
RECENT MASTER PROMOTIONS * natural, non forcing Club Master Sue McCarthy Partner leads .2. This is consistent with low Local Master Steven Shochet from 3 small, which is your method. It is most unlikely to be a singleton, and if he had Bronze Life Master Irene Hamilton 4 there doesn't seem much hope. So you VBA Bulletin September 2012 Page 5
GADGET CITY After the blackout bid, opener makes a Bill Jacobs descriptive non-forcing bid with minimum reversing values. (With nothing special to
show, opener rebids his minor.) Responder Blackout can then correct the partscore if desired. With a powerful hand that wants to proceed This month’s “For Starters” covered the most to game even after responder’s blackout, common reverse auction: partner opens with opener jumps or bids (or rebids) the 4th suit. 1 of a minor, you bid 1 of a major, then partner bids a new higher suit at the 2-level. The payoff is that all of responder’s other bids are game forcing. These include simple The methods suggested in that article for non-jump bids in any of the three suits responder’s next bid are simple and easy to already shown. With the example hand learn, which is good for starters. A minimum above, responder can rebid 3, showing bid shows about 6-8 points and is non- th diamond support and forcing to game. forcing, and jump bids (or a bid of the 4 Opener can continue to describe his hand at suit) are game-forcing. a relatively low level.
“Simple and easy to learn” is not always Like many gadgets, Blackout has its upsides sufficient. The problem with that scheme is and downsides. The downside is that the that it can pre-empt your auction when blackout bid usually takes you past 2 of responder holds various good hands. For responder’s major. However the upside of example, suppose you are dealt being able to bid the strong hands slower more than compensates. KQxx Ax Qxxx . xxx . and the auction proceeds:
Partner You 1 1 Mildura Congress 2 ? The Mildura U3A Bridge Club members hope You would like to show partner your fine you will attend our Congress on the weekend diamond support, but a non-forcing 3 of October 27 & 28. doesn’t do sufficient justice to the hand; conversely a jump to 4 leaves 3NT behind. “Ah!” you will say, “we’d love to come, but it’s too far.” Then come for a week and The Blackout gadget allows you to keep the enjoy the delights of Mildura and district. bidding low with good hands, while still The weather in late October is mild and allowing for a partscore contract when sunny, the air is perfumed with orange responder has a bad hand. blossom, the Murray River is a must-see, and the restaurants will satisfy even the most Playing Blackout, one single bid, the blackout fastidious gourmet. You can fly – we have bid, is made with all responder’s hands in the several flights in and out each day, you can 6-8 point range. All other bids are natural travel by bus and train, or you can drive and and game forcing. As practised by the see the country-side at its best. We have a leading Victorian pairs, the blackout bid is vast array of accommodation. either 4th suit or 2NT, whichever is the lower. The Congress will be held in the historic Here are the four relevant auctions and the Mildura Club with morning tea and lunch associated blackout bid: provided on both days. Entry forms have been sent to your Club Secretary, or you Auction Blackout bid enter on-line. For further information, phone 1. - 1 - 2 2 03 5024 8404. 1. - 1 - 2 2 1. - 1 - 2 2NT Hope to see you there! 1 - 1 - 2 2NT Page 6 VBA Bulletin September 2012
BOOK REVIEW Dlr: North J832 Vul: E/W 8654
K87 This book is a . 96 detailed AQ95 N K10764 exposition of the Q7 103 bidding system W E Q65 J1032 used by Italian . J1085 S . 73 stars Fulvio Fantoni and - Claudio Nunes. AKJ92 This pair has A94 been remarkably . AKQ42 successful at the highest level: West North East South Fantoni Nunes they are still at it, last July Pass Pass 1 winning the Pass 2 Pass 3 Spingold teams Pass 4 Pass 6 in the USA. Pass Pass Pass
Jacobs sets out the bidding machinery in At the other table the English auction began comprehensive detail. This last adjective is the same, North dredging up a raise opposite well-merited - 95 auctions are indexed in the a non-forcing opener. His partner also last pages. Players thinking of trying a new splintered 3, but North, having already and successful system can start right here. overstretched, signed off in 4. Although auctions can become complicated, beginners can ease themselves in. Jacobs (2) the second Fantunes specialty is that uses sign-posts to show where a treatment is opening 2-bids are natural (again) and show optional. a 5+-suit in the range 10-13 HCP, and unbalanced. Jacobs is convinced that they Other readers may be primarily interested in give Fantunes a remarkable edge, since they the structure of bidding systems. Jacobs lay claim to the 2-level yet are semi- certainly is. The foundations of Fantunes are constructive. The weak opening 1NT assists. (1) Natural opening bids of 1 in a suit are unlimited and forcing, though 1. contains Here is a 2-bid in action, against some balanced hands as well as clubs. This distinguished opposition: does away with the need in most natural systems to dedicate a special opening bid, Dlr: South Q873 2., to showing a very strong hand. Vul: All A43 J The strong natural openings give an edge . QJ864 over this artificial 2. and also the opening AKJ104 N 965 strong 1. of systems such as Precision in 102 Q765 W E that if intervening opponents begin a Q982 A10654 competitive auction, the Fantuner has . K10 S . 2 announced his suit. 2 KJ98 This deal is the first in the book, from the K73 very top level, the World Mind Sports Games . A9753 2008. (See top of next column) West North East South After the unlimited opening, Nunes' raise Hamman Nunes Zia Fantoni showed support and 3-6 HCP. Fantoni 2. splintered and Nunes could cue-bid, having 2 3 4 Pass shown a very weak raise. Nunes slammed. Pass D’ble All Pass
VBA Bulletin September 2012 Page 7
Nunes with a 10-card fit committed to the 4- Problem 1 level, and Zia, perhaps hoping for a Dlr: South A misguided sacrifice, competed to 4, which Vul: E/W 10965 cost 500 against 130 for 4.. The opening bid J9876 had obliterated the one-level, leaving East- . Q103 West with little room to manoeuvre. At the J10973 N KQ62 other table South opened 1., West J74 AQ3 overcalled 1 and North bid 1NT. North- W E 532 10 South played in the club partial. . J7 S . K8653
Jacobs' enthusiasm for Fantunes' opening 854 bids is supported by his statistical tables on K82 pp. 140-1, which show analyses of deals AKQ4 played by Nunes - Fantoni on BBO's Vugraph . A94 sessions. They opened the bidding in the range 1. to 2 on 2,723 hands, and gained You should start, logically enough, by playing an average of 0.67 IMPs per deal. Jacobs K to trick 1, passing on the good news. adjusts this tidily for superior card play, to Declarer plays A, K, Q; partner had 3. arrive at an estimate of 0.29 attributable to What did you discard? superior bidding. Playing Q would serve to clarify, though you It was fitting that I should write this review. could leave that a while, trick 1 told enough. In the 1960s, when Italian teams dominated, The faster you get Q on to the table the Fred Altman and I taught ourselves Blue Club better. To blazes with count/attitude, this is from a little book on the Italian systems by bridge. Partner has to be told to cling to Edgar Kaplan. This took us all the way to an clubs. Olympiad, where we had the privilege of meeting, and beating, Italy, who won the Problem 2 championship. Fantunes is a better system Dlr: North AK6 than Blue Club, and Jacobs' book is more Vul: All Q76 extensive. QJ2 . J974 Fantunes is the future - follow the star. I 10 N 9842 regret that a failing memory means that I am 92 A543 W E left behind. K1087643 9 . 852 S . AKQ6 Fantunes Revealed is available from QJ532 http://www.bridgeshop.com.au/, $16.99 KJ108 digital or $22.95 softcover. A5 … Ian McCance . 103
. There is no winning defence, but you can make it very hard for declarer. Don't win .Q. SETTING TRICK – SOLUTIONS .K is probably best, to suggest .Q in West. Ian McCance You must switch at once to that diamond. That's where the setting trick must lie. If he runs it he's dead - partner will win K and Correction: The solution I gave for last give you a diamond ruff for 2 down. The month’s second problem was second-best. winning play for declarer is to win A and Ben Thompson points out that if East cashes play .10. You would win and having no more A before exiting a club, declarer is trapped diamonds would return a trump. South can in dummy and must fail. play Q, then to K and trump-finesse clubs for a discard. If you show him .AKQ at trick 1 he can rise on 9 and go for the discard. If he's good enough. If you cash 2 clubs you make it much easier. Now the winning play is much more obvious (and appealing). Page 8 VBA Bulletin September 2012
THE TWELFTH TRICK Win the club in hand and play a diamond to Bill Jacobs the queen, the play that is ill-advised in Problem 1. If East wins A and returns a
heart, win A and J. If the diamonds are 4- There are 12 easy tricks if diamonds divide 1, cash your black suit winners, hoping that 3-2. If they don’t, the heart suit will need to the defender with the long diamonds also has deliver the extra tricks required. K, in which case he will be squeezed.
On both deals, you should start diamonds by If the Q wins, return to your other club leading a low card, just in case the next hand winner and play a second low diamond from has the singleton ace. And on both deals, hand. In the above layout, West must let the diamonds must be managed in such a way J win, as East shows out. Now cash all your that the heart suit fallback can be retained. black suit winners, coming down to:
Problem 1. -
Q2 KQ105 7 J102 . - QJ7 - N . AQ4 K? 6432 N 87 W E A? 9753 K86 W E . - S 5 A1098 - . 10985 S . 7632 A6 AJ9 K AQ4 . - K6432
. KJ If West’s extra card is a diamond, then drop
his singleton K. If the extra card is a heart, If the diamonds don’t come in, the K will play a diamond, forcing him to lead away need to be onside. If you win the club lead in from K. hand and play a low diamond to the queen, what will you do if East wins A and returns a heart? You haven’t yet discovered the diamond break, so cannot know whether to finesse the heart.
Instead cross to dummy’s K and play a low diamond towards your king. You will discover the diamond layout in time to decide whether you need the heart finesse.
Problem 2.
KJ105 Q2 QJ7 . AQ43 643 N 872 K86 J10953 W E A1098 5 . 1098 S . 7652 AQ9 A64 K6432 . KJ